Rise of the Shadow-Hunters
by Dark-Mage-Quisits
Summary: What would the DH world be like if an unknown God or Goddess got sick of all the fighting between the Dark-Hunters and the Daemons? Lets find out, shall we... [Rating subject to change]
1. Stormraven

_**Stormraven**_

He'd opened the random link that had been sent to him. There was a prelude to the strange piece and he was sure that they were playing with his sanity. However. As he read and re-read the letter that had been left on the DH website, he felt as though a lead weight had been dropped into his stomach.

"Stormraven's Plea:

OK, so just when I thought that going into high school without a friend in the world was hard, the Fates deemed it necessary to pile on more bull crap than I should have been able to handle. Karma's an invisi-bitch and everyone is an enemy in disguise. Praise be that any deity up there in the heavens will be saving me from my fate-worse-than-death experience...

Fine, I get the point.

I'm hardwired differently than my brethren. (Insert huge lmfao right there!)

I've completely confused you haven't I?

Right on, my mission has been accomplished! Not. I need help en mass to the point that I'm willing to beg for it. Any takers? No?

I'm so screwed. Gonna take a deep breath right now and pray that I don't get shot down by some high-and-mighty, royally ticked off God/ Goddess.

3...

…..2...

…...1...

I'm back. Physically, at least. Mentally, I'm not so sure. (Just joking!) Seriously, though, I'm in major need of assistance.

My name is Shiloh Stormraven. I'm a 17-year-old high school student with a passion for drama and painting. I have six (no, not a joke) older brothers and I just found out that I'm adopted. To top it all off we just moved to a new city in a new country with mid-term exams right around the corner.

Typical teenage melodrama, right? Wrong.

According to some tall, blond (not to mention incredibly hot) Adonis that found me the other day, I have two weeks to learn about some kick-ass powers that I'm about to 'inherit' or I'm a sitting duck during hunting season. So again I ask you: any takers on saving a life?

S.S. (May the wings of faith carry you home.)"

As he read the message that was more of a plea than anything else, he realized who – or rather what – the young girl had described. He double checked the I.P address and quirked a brow. Moving quickly, he opened the website and scanned the listed messages until he found the exact same letter that was send to his email. There was another one from two days ago that followed the first by a mere 16 hours.

"Please, someone, please help me... The pain started and I don't know what to do or where to go for help. This site seemed like a wicked idea at first, but now I'm not so sure... I need help... BADLY! Can anyone make the pain go away or am I to suffer in my own personal Hell for the rest of my accursed life?"

Wow, the girl had a serious way with words that could not be ignored. _She_ wouldn't be ignored. Many of the others on the site were buzzing about how she'd figured anything out. Others were calling attention to the fact that it could be a hoax by the their less-than-likable enemies.

Suddenly, another message popped up from the same person. Another cry for help.

"This is Shiloh. If anyone at all has read my last post on here then you know that I need some serious help. Since three days ago, when I found this place by accident, I found out that my 'family' are not what they seem to be. They turn into ANIMALS – literately! Last night, one of my adoptive bro's tried to **_kill_ **me. When I fought, the others turned on me too. So now I'm here with only the clothes on my back and the fifty bucks that I kept for emerge situations and my mini-laptop. Guess what? This is an emergency. I'm in over my head and drowning in stuff I don't understand. Please, anyone listening to my cries, help me understand what and why this is happening to me. All I ask for is guidance, after all, the best defense is also the best weapon: Knowledge. PLEASE! I'm alone in New Orleans with no where to go and all I want is someone to point me in the right direction."

The man grimaced slightly. Whoever this kid was they seemed to be in over their heads in more ways than one. Bringing up the chat window, he prayed that they were still online and typed in a quick message offering help. It wasn't long before they posted another message with a phone number and location name.

Not one to turn down a cry for help, he reached over, picked up his cell phone and dialed the number. A girl answered in a quiet, but panicked voice.

"Hello?"

"I'm looking for Shiloh." He replied simply. "My name is Acheron."


	2. Sanctuary

_**SANCTUARY**_

_******A huge thank-you to those who've read the first chapter. Enjoy this second installment, and know that the third chapter will soon follow.**_

Somewhere across the city, she knew that her so-called family were looking for her. The hunt had begun, and she was la prix grand. After all, she was different from everyone else around her. Not even the kids at her school-new or old- had wanted to be her friends or hang out.

Ducking behind a hedge surrounded by a wrought iron gate of a Victorian-style building in the French Quarter of New Orleans she considered her options. There was nowhere that she could go that her 'family' couldn't find her. Tucking a strand of her waist-length, blue-streaked auburn hair behind her left ear, she twisted her head to read the street sign above her head.

"Bourbon Street," she said quietly. "Huh, I guess the locals like their parties."

She mused over the fact that one of the people on the street just one block over had yelled in old French and reveled in the fact that she could understand every word. Yet, it was no surprise to her. No matter what language was being spoken around her, she adapted so quickly that within minutes she was able to fluently speak it.

She pulled out her laptop from her shoulder bag and flicked it on. Carefully wording her situation, she placed another post on the website she'd found by complete accident not four days before. At first glance, she thought that it was just some locally created, run-of-the-mill gamer site. That was until she was walking down the street on her way home from school and overheard a very interesting conversation between three guys that looked to be in their early twenty's. Her mind flashed back to that fateful day. The day that she figured out that the the things of nightmares might actually be real and she might not really be alone.

* * *

_The street was busy for three thirty in the afternoon as she kicked a small stone down the sidewalk. It skipped about fifteen feet, coming to a stop on the cusp of a jagged crack in the gray-black cement. Keith, one of her six older brothers, had once again forgotten to pick her up from school. She grimaced at the thought that he could be so forgetful._

_ Just then, something bright and flashy caught her eye. She turned and felt her jaw drop open in shock. There stood three of the hottest guys she'd ever seen and judging from the way that they were standing, they were sharing some secret only they were privy to._

_ Or so they thought._

_ Even though she was a good ten feet from the three men, she could hear their conversation as clearly as if she were right there with them. Knowing that she should move on, she remained rooted to the spot as one of the guys who was wearing a brightly colored button down T-shirt with Hawaiian print said the one word that made eavesdropping well worth the time. Dark-Hunters._

_ The guy to the left of the Hawaii reject scoffed lightly. "Yeah, I know, Ollie. They want us to look into it anyway and report back at sundown." He ran a hand through thick black curls and gave an agitated sigh. The third wore a jacket with the words Tulane University emblazoned of the front and back._

_ "Look, Eric, I still don't see the point of getting all worked up over this so-called 'disruption' on the site. Whoever it was probably won't ever realize what they stumbled on anyway." Remarked Hawaii._

_ Tulane U. regarded both with a look of disinterest. "Guys, even if they did figure it out, our Hunter's can more than likely use their weird Jedi mind tricks and wipe that person's mind clean."_

_ "Mark's right. It ain't like they're not powerful enough to do it." Said Hawaii as he laughed lightly. "Eric, you know that's true."_

Jedi mind tricks? Hunters? Holy Hell._ She thought. Cautiously, she moved to continue down the sidewalk toward home, but just as her luck would have it, one of the men had caught sight of her staring at them._

_ "Hey, who's the chika?" She'd determined that the guy who'd spoken was the Hawaii reject named Ollie. He was now looking straight at her and so were the others._

_ The dark-haired Eric raised a brow at the girl and smirked. "Hey, cutie, whatcha need?"_

_ Finding her courage, she exhaled a small laugh. "No, I was just on my way home from school when that walking atrocity caught my eye."_

_ Taking heart that the others actually laughed, she decided to take the friendly insult a step further. "By the way, Hawaii Five-O called McGarrett wants his shirt back." The comment was well worth the reaction by the guy named Ollie when she watched his jaw drop comically._

* * *

Yeah, that memory made her laugh every time. She loaded the website and left another blog on the main page. She closed her eyes, sleep exhaustion threatening to overcome the last of her adrenalin rush from two days ago. Something moved in the shadows of the alleyway, knocking over what sounded like a trash can, the cover rolling noisily along the asphalt. The adrenalin returned with a vengeance as she pressed her back to the fence while hastily shoving her laptop into her bag and digging her Blackberry out of her back pocket of her jeans. There were three messages from Felix and two from Andre – the threats were very darkly put and she knew that they were nicknamed the Terror Twins for a reason.

Somewhere in the darkness, a cat yowled as it searched for food, reminding her of the same hunger that ate at her empty stomach.

She closed her eyes as she quietly contemplated what to do with the device in her hands. If they had any common sense, it would be so easy to track her down using the Blackberry's GPS system. Thankfully, _she_ was smart enough to turn the app off. The other problem she faced right then was that if they could turn into animals, wouldn't they be able to track her scent?

A guttural growl from a few streets over made her blood run cold. The phone in her hands buzzed silently as another message came through. She glanced at the screen, reading each word that Zephyr had sent carefully, wishing that she was mistaken about the meaning behind them:

***Time to die.***

They had found her after all.

Taking a deep breath to steady herself, she stood in the shadow's and threw the phone at the far wall of the alley. Her lips lifted slightly in a satisfied smirk when the object shattered against the concrete wall, the pieces falling to the ground as she shrugged on the shoulder bag and ran off into the night.

* * *

The sign read Sanctuary. Judging by the line up of bikes and the not-so-friendly looking crowd that was gathered outside the doors, it was a popular hangout for many of New Orleans' less-than-savory people.

To her, it was the perfect place to hide in plain sight.

She stilled her breathing and walked up to the door where a tall, blond but very intimidating man stood guard. His blue gaze scanned the people both in and outside of the pub and eatery while joking with another that looked just like him except for the lack of the tattoo on the first man's bicep.

Her eyes widened, shocked for the first time that night by the appearance of the double bow-and-arrow tat that the bouncer sported on his arm. To her, that mark meant safety. Without thinking twice about it, she walked through the crowd and stopped not three feet from the door. Summoning her courage, she spoke in hushed tones to the two men.

"Excusez-moi, puis-je entrer?" Stunned into silence by the little dark haired girl that stood before them, Remi and Dev stared at her as she spoke in perfect French to them. Remi was the first to regain his voice as he took in the girls appearance.

She had a pair of black jeans that were smudged with dirt and wore a dark red T-shirt advertising ACDC's Back In Black album under an open black leather jacket that stopped just above her knees. There was obvious fear in her dark, midnight blue eyes as she toyed with a black and silver cross that hung around her neck on a black-beaded silver chain.

_Damn, she'd give Acheron a run for his money in the Goth department. _Remi thought idly. "Pourquoi, chère?"

The girl scoffed lightly, "Je regarde à manger un morceau à manger, si vous le permettez?"

The two men laughed softly.

"We speak English, petite." Dev said gently as he, too, gave her a once over. "And we know a lie when we hear one."

"Please, I need help." The girl said in her soft voice. "I don't mean to bring trouble, but someone's trying to kill me and I need a place to both hide in and grab something to eat. I won't stay long, I promise."

Dev looked at his brother and sighed. "I'll take the girl in to Aimee and have Cherif whip her up something to eat," he said steadily. "Man the door, Remi."

"Yeah, yeah; don't get lost and forget me out here, Dev."

The girl followed Dev into the building, gratefully accepting the access that they granted her. "Thank you so much, Dev. I swear I won't stay longer than I have to in your den."

The words were out before she could stop them. Dev turned, malice in his light blue eyes as one of his golden curls fell loose from the band that held his hair. He grabbed her arm roughly and guided her to a booth in an empty, shadowed area of the bar. Shoving her lightly into the seat, he glared darkly.

Clinching her jaw, she felt her defenses go up. Inwardly, she grimaced because now her attitude took the place of her friendliness. "Wow, are all bears as irritable as you, Sugar-puff, or do you suffer from perpetual PMS?"

"Who told you about us?" He glared down at her as she laced her fingers together under her chin and looked at him square in the eye with an innocent smile.

"Do you have Wi-Fi here? I need to check a website to see if anyone's gunna help save me from a fate worse than death."

"Answer me, girl." Dev watched as she grinned up at him. A spark of something unknown flashed in her eyes and he knew at that moment that she was not an ordinary human. He took a step back, fishing out a cell phone while she pulled out her laptop and opened the Dark-Hunter website.

There was a message waiting under her last posted blog from someone named Ash asking for her location and how to contact her.

She looked up at Dev and grinned darkly. "Is there an actual number that you have for that phone or is it just for looks?"

Dev regarded her with contempt before handing her the cell phone and telling her the number. Two minutes later, the ring-tone that he'd set for Acheron blasted from the device and she picked it up with a polite "hello". As the person on the other end spoke to her, her demeanor changed from brazen to defeated, showing Dev that she was reacting to him under the guard of a defense mechanism.

He watched as she took a deep, shaky breath. "I'm scared. Can you really help me?"

* * *

For those who don't know French these are the translations:

**Excusez-moi, puis-je entrer?** means: Excuse me, may i go inside?

**pourquoi?** means: Why?

**Je regarde à manger un morceau à manger, si vous le permettez?** means: I'm just looking to grab a bite to eat, if that's okay?


	3. Dark Salvation

_**DARK SALVATION**_

She took a deep, shaky breath. "I'm scared. Can you really help me?"

Stunned into momentary silence, Ash looked at the phone and put it back to his ear. He heard her whimper, asking if he was still there. "Yes, I'm still here. Are you still inside Sanctuary, Shiloh? Are you alone right now?"

She sobbed suddenly, finally breaking under the strain of the past few days. "Yes, " She choked back another sob. No, I'm not alone. I'm in a damn bar full of people, over half of which I'm almost positive aren't human, and I'm convinced that the six-foot-tall, built like a brick shit-house bear of a guy with a wicked double bow tat that's guarding me here in my bad-girl corner just growled at me." Acheron could hear Dev fuming in the background. "Yeah, he definitely growled at me."

Trying not to laugh at the already agitated bear, Ash continued to talk to the girl in soothing tones. "Shiloh, I need you to listen to me. Trust them to take care of you until I get there, alright? Everything's going to be okay. Hand the phone to Dev for me."

He heard the scuffle as she very creatively told the Were-Hunter to go back into hibernation and wake up on the right side of the cave before she rearranged his vocal cords.

"Acheron?"

"Hey, Dev, can you not kill a seventeen year old until I extract her?"

"Not makin' no promises, Ash. She got a mouth like a certain Cajun we know, yes?"

* * *

Acheron laughed. "Yes, she does, my friend. I'm on my way."

Shiloh sighed as the woman that Dev referred to as Aimee set a plate of garlic bread and a bowl of Jambalaya in front of her on the polished oak-wood table. Remi sat across from her, glowering as he grumbled about babysitting a girl. Taking everything that happened to her so far in stride was a big step for her.

As she dug into the spiced food, she wondered idly what this Acheron character looked like and why he was concerned about helping her find her way.

Remi glared at her. "Stop playing with your food, girl."

"If I was playing with my food, _Cuddles_," she put emphasis on the name that she called him. "You would be covered in it."

Shiloh glanced nervously around at the people in the bar and shivered. She just couldn't shake the feeling that someone was watching her.

"Cold, chère?" Cherif asked coming up to the table. "Remi, Dev needs you at the front door. Apparently there are a few young punks looking for our 'human' friend here."

"I don't think I'm human." She spooned another mouthful of the Jambalaya and grimaced lightly. Both Peltier men looked at her quizzically. "If I am then I'm super-charged and the idiots outside would be thinking twice about messing with you guys in front of me."

Remi sat back in the booth and crossed his arms over his muscular chest while Cherif raised one brow expectantly. "What do you mean 'super-charged'?"

"I can smell them from here. There are three of them with short blond hair and uber-dark blue eyes. I can hear them, too. They're giving the excuse that they are looking for their missing sister, yet their voices don't house a 'fuck-you' of concern."

Both men stared incredulously at the girl. She knew from the looks on their faces that they were looking for proof.

"Call your brother on your headset and find out for yourself." She pulled apart a piece of bread and chewed carefully. "I don't know what I am, but this Acheron dude answered my cries for help. So... What? Why do you look ready to kill me. Remi?"

"'Cause you bring trouble to our door, little girl. We don't do well with trouble."

"I'm sorry!" Fear laced Shiloh's voice. It was a fear that she tried so hard to hide from the people in front of her. Her blood ran like ice in her veins and she trembled under the raw scrutiny that she now faced as she wondered what they were going to do to her. "I never meant to lead them here, I swear!"

Cherif turned suddenly to face a man that looked remarkably like the Peltier's friend. But they knew who he was. "Styxx." _Well, that greeting was colder than a polar bear's unmentionables, _Shiloh thought absently. "Do Ash know you're here?"

The man shook his head; long, shoulder-length blond hair shifting slightly with the movement. "I'm here for her. I'm going to take her to Acheron now because she's telling the truth about he guys at the door and if she stay's any longer I'm willing to bet on a battle breaking out."

Remi and Cherif shared a dark look. "We were told by Ash that he was picking her up, so the brat stay's." Remi said. His voice was laced with venom. Shiloh gasped suddenly, bringing their attention back to her. Standing in the shadowed darkness of the door stood three young men and, if the brothers guessed correctly, they were Were-Hunters. Wolves, to be exact, and Remi – with the exception of his new in-laws – hated them with an unrivaled passion.

"Fine, take the girl, but have Ash call or we come find you, clear?"

The newcomer, Styxx grinned. "Sure, sure. Don't get your fur in a knot bear. Come along, little one. I'll take you to my brother."

* * *

**_(somewhere in New Orleans)_**

As he hung up the phone, Simi manifested from his arm and took human form. "She sounds sad, Akri. Are we going to go get her?"  
"We have to meet her first, little one. I'm sending you in before me to scout her, OK? I have to tell the others to be on the watch for her as well." Pulling his laptop back over, he scanned the messages one more time and found another message from Shiloh.

"I'm either incredibly cursed or favorably blessed in the eyes of the Gods. Sending a huge thanks to the guy that's saving my butt right now. I owe you big time for this."

Before Acheron could turn off the laptop, a message appeared from someone else. Someone not in his contact list. Styxx. The very guy that was currently still trying everything in his power to get his older brother to forgive his past mistakes.

_** Lost_Boy (Styxx): **__I'm watching over her now, Acheron. She's like no power I've ever seen in my lifetime and we've been around for a Helluva long time._

He glanced twice at the pen-name that his younger twin had chosen and grimaced. Would Styxx ever let it go?

_** Ash:**__ Why are you responding to the messages, Styxx?_

_There was only a one-word response that made Ash raise his brows in confusion and surprise._

_** Lost_Boy (Styxx): **Incoming..._

"What the heck does he mean by 'incoming'?"

The spoken word from behind almost made the Atlantian jump out of his chair. He'd been so caught up in the girl and Nick's sudden friendliness that he didn't hear the other man enter his domain. "The girl's just a kid, Acheron. Literately. I did the extract for you 'cause your friend Remi looked like he was about to turn her into his next meal."

Fear for his wife and new-born son flashed in his swirling silver gaze as he watched the other man cradle the teenage girl in his leather clad arms. "Styxx, I..."

"I'm not going to hurt your family, Brother. I have more common sense than that." His voice held an edge of hurt as he spoke. "Besides, they're my family, too, aren't they?"

Wow. Who knew that this man standing in front of him, a man who'd once tried to kill him and unleash world destruction, could be so deep and concerned when it came to getting into Ash's good graces?

Wordlessly, Ash nodded and led his twin-by-circumstance to a small back bedroom of the house. He turned down the covers and watched as Styxx carefully placed the girl in the center of the bed and smoothed back her dark hair.

"I've been watching over her in New Orleans since she moved there with her family." Defensively, Styxx threw up his hands as Acheron opened his mouth to tell the other man off. "I know, I know! You told me never to go back, but some God and Goddess who's names I don't know confronted me and told me to watch over the Stormraven, Acheron. They told me that she would be 'coming to power soon' and that I would need to be here because her life hung in the balance."

Silently, Ash listened as they made their way back to the front of the house to the kitchen. Ash grabbed two beer out of the fridge and handed one to Styxx.

"Alright, I'm listening." He said lightly. "Tell me more."

Breathing a sigh of relief, Styxx took a swig from the bottle. "The man said that she would be seeking help soon so I kept my eye on the website and when she made that first post, I started watching over her. She's telling the truth about her adopted family – they did try to kill her. Three of them tracked her to Sanctuary and that's when I knew that I had to finally interfere otherwise..."

As Styxx trailed off, Ash noticed that there was a soft glow coming from the room where they had left the young girl. He ran down the hall and came face to face with a Goddess who's name he didn't know.

The woman standing before him stiffened when he entered the room, but remained silent as her partner, a young God kissed the teenager on the forehead. A God that Acheron recognized.

"Asaziel, what are you doing here?"

The woman turned to him, her eyes full of pain and loss. "My daughter... your brother promised us to watch over her."

"Acheron," the man, Asaziel said in a voice that was filled with pain. "Please, you have to find them, Acheron. Others will hunt our children down for their powers. Please, from one God to another, I beg of you to watch over my children, Acheron."

"Your children, Ziel?" Known for his love of tranquility and peace, Asaziel smiled numbly. Ash cocked an eyebrow at the pair. Surly, they wouldn't have... would they? "By the Gods, Ziel, what have you done?"

"I wanted to stop the fighting. To bring peace to the humans as they have brought me peace." Gently, Ziel ran his fingertips along the unnamed woman's jaw and kissed her lightly. "Such as the light and love that my precious Natalia has brought to me by bearing my shadow children."

"Shadow children?" Styxx asked curiously from the doorway.

"Styxx! You did save her!" The woman, Natalia, exclaimed. "You have my thanks, Styxx, for she is the firstborn of her kind. A Shadow-Hunter."

Ash paled slightly. Shadow-Hunter's were myth. They had to be... there was no way that they could actually exist. Could there?

"Ziel... why?"

"Because they will be the one's to end it all, Acheron." Ziel said as he gazed lovingly at his daughter. "My Stormraven. Shiloh will be more powerful than her siblings for she will lead them. They will not bring hate to the world of mortals. Instead, they will cast their light into the dark and their dark into the light for they are Shadow-Born."

As Asaziel spoke, a pale gray light surrounded the young girl on the bed, encasing her in powers that seemed to come from inside of her body. When the light faded both Asaziel and the woman were gone, but the girl was still there. From somewhere unseen, Natalia's voice filled the air.

"She will gather them all, Styxx. I choose you to help her learn. Protect Shiloh for me and you shall be rewarded greatly for your aide..."

* * *

**_***And so, my dearest readers, the plot thickens. Who are these Shadow-Hunter's and what will their presence mean for the Dark-Hunter's and Daemon's? Keep reading to find out!***_**


End file.
